which, for almost a century, define NewnYork in mankind’s imagination. Harrisnwas also an employee of The New YorknTimes, which proves that little can benmore boring than a native journalist whonattempts to render justice to a fascinatingncity. We closed the resplendentnalbum with an impression that by concentratingnon bars and Rolls Royces, thenauthors have left the truly fascinatingnaspects of New York untouched.nRobert Freson’s The Taste of Prance isna tantalizing delight. The quality ofnphotography, typography, reproduction,nand printing are unsurpassed, but tonapply this kind of visual seduction tonpresenting perhaps the best food onnearth is cruel. The perverse greatness ofnthe volume lies in the circumstance thatnit focuses on folksy, outrightly peasantncuisine and alimentation, and bringsnback to the world’s attention the merenfeet that the real beatitudes and glories ofneating are not in Maxim’s or Tournd’Argent, but somewhere in Languedoc,nTouraine, and Anjou. This is the mostnpowerful populist manifesto available innthe American book market to date, andnwhoever will be first to identify oneselfnwith it—be it George McGo vem or JerrynFalwell—will score a triumph for hisnparty, program, or ideology.nAnsel Adams is the single most convincingnand effective environmentalistnalive. We are not too taken with thenecologist argument as the acme ofnhuman cognitive effort and logicalnacumen, yet, looking at Mr. Adams’snpicture makes us uncharacteristicallynbenign even toward the inanities of thenSierra Club dialectics. The hauntingnbeauty of his imagery is well-known innthe better-educated strata of our society,nand any attempt to describe their formnand content seems both futile andnsomehow diminishing of anyone whonwould attempt such a task. The photographsnshould be consumed as they are,nfor eyes only, and venerated as such. Thenloving care with which the New YorknGraphic Society and Little, Brownnpublished Mr. Adams’s book is laudable.nMr. Manchester’s One Brief ShiningnMoment: Remembering Kennedy has asnmuch text as it has pictures. We leave thenformer to historians, political scientists,nand social critics, but the latter isnsplendid and valuable as a document ofnhow far modern journalistic photographyncan render a subject worshiped ifnit only wishes to do so. Some will say thatnit is a biased iconography, or graphicnmythmaking. Maybe so. But because ofnthe historic idiosyncracy of his fate, JohnnKennedy can already be placed abovenour quotidian strifes. This volume gladlynserves as a sample of how to do it. DnTHE AMERICAN PROSCENIUMnDemo Liberal ChutzpahnOnce again, President Reagan hasnspoken out about the collapse of thenAmerican educational system (andncorrecdy so ) and stated facts that will hitnanyone who has an average IQ, and onenthat is uncontaminated by liberal orthodoxy,nwith a force of a brick:nClassrooms across the country are notntemples of learning, teaching thenlessons of goodwill, civility andnwisdom important to the whole iabricnof American life…. Each month, somen2-1/2 million smdents [are] victims ofnrobberies and thefts and [in 1978]nmore than 250,000 students sufferednphysical attacks. In large cities …nstudents… [are] afraid to go to school.n. . . One psychiatrist who treatsnteachers said many of them suffernsymptoms identical to those of WorldnWar I shell-shock victims.nAnd once again, a spokesman for thenDemocratic Party, a congressman fromnCalifornia, came up with an astonishingnrebuke—an argument that boggles thenmind through the sheer power of theninsolence of a lie:nThis is brought about in large part bynnnthis administration’s cuts in educationalnprograms, including cuts in thenschool-lunch program, cuts in studentnaid and the attempt to eliminate thenDepartment of Education.nSo, let’s once again call to mind truthsnas simple and self-evident as heliocentrism.nThe deterioration, degeneration,ndecay, and final failure of Americanneducation began under President Kennedy,nwhen the manipulation of Americannsociocultural ethos became thenexclusive franchise of the liberal wing ofnthe Democratic Party. Consequently, antremendous bureaucratic machine wasnerected, whose principles and laws wereninstitutionalized and ruthlessly enforcednFleeting TruthsnLane Kirkiand, president of the AFL-nCIO, responding to a question about thenstatus of his organization in the late 20thncentury:nThe union is never defeated. As long as itnstays it endures. The union will endure.nPresumably, it will stay.Butwhatifit leaves?nOr is defeated? Is Socrates a man? Dn^^••37nApril 1984n